The mystery regarding Eru’s uncle deepens…
Up until now, mysteries in this show primarily focused on trivial stuff around the school. Things like the locked door, hidden note and the smoking are meant to show Houtarou’s deductive skills along with his treasured ability to make a conclusion with the least amount of energy used. This episode is no exception, except that Satoshi actually contributes to something that is very important.
Although there is a lot of dialog in this episode, the way that this episode incorporated historical events is rather interesting. Satoshi mentions the protest that involved students regarding the “Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security” between the United States and Japan that occurred in 1960 as it could have some connection of what happened at that school. In a way, they applied this event to the mystery as students protested against the shortening of the Cultural Festival by the Principal. Jun, who was the Classical Literature Club president, rallied support to put pressure on the school administration to return it back to its original length. In exchange of this concession, he got expelled. Although it wasn’t as obvious, I think the reason why they had this mystery is to show that Eru’s uncle might have experienced the same thing. Still, it was rather good in comparison.
From the four episodes, I think the series is gradually catching my interest. While the reason why her uncle didn’t tell her about this in the first place was strange, there were other things that added to my enjoyment. Things like Houtarou getting lost in the mansion and having to use more energy trying to find the bathroom was hilarious. On the other hand, we do get a peek into Eru’s room and apparently, she loves research. Also, she looks criminally cute in that ponytail. Even so, I think the male characters shines a lot in Hyouka, which is a change of pace since the females usually takes the spotlight. This show pretty much uses them to keep the audiences’ attention and initiate a new mystery. Who knows, but I hope they will develop later on the series so all the characters have a fair chance to solve them.
Ponytail is JUSTICE!
On the story side, I think that we still don’t know anything about the events of 45 years ago. There must be a reason for which the first volume is not available anywhere…:P
Like Kyon says, “Ponytails turn me on…”
But still, the first volume still remains missing and this is probably the reason. Still, not too sure.